Mother's Day is an annual holiday celebrated in the United States and, since 1914, in Canada on the second Sunday in May. Mother's Day recognizes mothers, motherhood and maternal bonds in general, as well as their positive contributions to their families and society. It was established by Anna Jarvis, with the first Mother's Day celebrated through a service of worship at St. Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, on May 10, 1908. Popular observances include holiday card and gift giving, churchgoing often accompanied by the distribution of carnations, and family dinners.

In 1868, Ann Jarvis, Anna Jarvis's mother, organized a committee to establish a "Mother's Friendship Day", the purpose of which was "to reunite families that had been divided during the Civil War." Ann Jarvis, who had previously organized Mother's Day Work Clubs to improve sanitation and health for both Union and Confederate encampments undergoing a typhoid outbreak, wanted to expand these into an annual memorial for mothers, but she died in 1905 before the annual celebration was established. Her daughter would continue her mother's efforts.

There were several limited observances in the 1870s and the 1880s. Still, none achieved resonance beyond the local level. which was accompanied by an "Appeal to womanhood throughout the world" (nowadays known as Mother's Day Proclamation). The observance continued in Boston for about ten years under Howe's sponsorship, then died out. In these celebrations, mothers all around the world would work towards world peace. According to local legend, Albion pioneer Juliet Calhoun Blakeley stepped up to complete the sermon of the Rev. Myron Daughterty who was distraught because an anti-temperance group had forced his son and two other temperance advocates at gunpoint to spend the night in a saloon and become publicly drunk. From the pulpit, Blakeley called on other mothers to join her. Blakeley's two sons, both traveling salesmen, were so moved that they vowed to return each year to pay tribute to her and embarked on a campaign to urge their business contacts to do likewise. At their urging, in the early 1880s, the Methodist Episcopal Church in Albion set aside the second Sunday in May to recognize the special contributions of mothers.

Frank E. Hering, alumnus and administrator at the University of Notre Dame and President of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, made a plea for "setting aside one day in the year as a nationwide memorial to the memories of Mothers and motherhood" in 1904. After observing a class of Notre Dame students sending home penny postcards to their mothers, Hering went on to be a vocal advocate for a national Mother's Day for the next decade.

A small service was held on May 12, 1907, in the Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where Anna's mother had been teaching Sunday school.

Jarvis then campaigned to establish Mother's Day first as a U.S. national holiday and then later as an international holiday. The holiday was declared officially by the state of West Virginia in 1910, and the rest of the states followed quickly.

On May 10, 1913, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution calling on all federal government officials (from the president down) to wear a white carnation the following day in observance of Mother's Day. On May 8, 1914, the U.S. Congress passed a law designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day and requesting a proclamation. The next day, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation declaring the first official Mother's Day as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war. In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved a stamp commemorating the holiday.

In May 2008, the House of Representatives voted twice on a resolution commemorating Mother's Day, the first one being passed without a dissenting vote (21 members not voting). She specifically noted that "Mother's" should "be a singular possessive, for each family to honor its own mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers in the world." This is also the spelling used by President Woodrow Wilson in his 1914 presidential proclamation, by the Congress in relevant bills,

Traditions

thumb|upright|Mother's Day 1915 postcard from [[Northern Pacific Railway]]

Traditions on Mother's Day include churchgoing, the distribution of carnations, and family dinners.

Carnations

Carnations have come to represent Mother's Day since Anna Jarvis delivered 500 at the first celebration in 1908. Many religious services held later adopted the custom of giving away carnations. In part due to the shortage of white carnations, and in part due to the efforts to expand the sales of more types of flowers in Mother's Day, florists invented the idea of wearing a pink carnation if your mother was living, or a white one if she was dead; this was tirelessly promoted until it made its way into the popular observations at churches. Other less traditional flower options may include roses, a live blooming plant, flower leis, or a bouquet of a variety of different flowers.

Commercialization

The commercialization of U.S. holidays began very early. Only nine years after the first official Mother's Day, it had become so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a prominent opponent of what the holiday had become, spending all her inheritance and the rest of her life fighting what she saw as an abuse of the celebration. and generating a significant portion of the U.S. jewelry industry's annual revenue, from custom gifts like mother's rings. Americans spend approximately $2.6 billion on flowers, $1.53 billion on pampering gifts—like spa treatments—and another $68 million on greeting cards.

It has been suggested that commercialization has ensured that the holiday has continued. In contrast, other holidays from the same time, such as Children's Day and Temperance Sunday, are no longer celebrated.

Sports

From 2005 to 2013, the Southern 500 auto race at Darlington Raceway was held on Saturday of Mother's Day weekend. From 2014 to 2019, the NASCAR Cup Series hosted the Digital Ally 400 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday of Mother's Day weekend. In 2020, the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway was scheduled to take place on the Saturday of Mother's Day weekend (although that race was postponed until June). In 2021, the Goodyear 400 auto race at Darlington Raceway occurred on Mother's Day and served as NASCAR's throwback race. Also, the IndyCar Grand Prix has been held on Saturday of Mother's Day weekend since 2014.

From 2007–2018, The Players Championship men's golf tournament was held on Mother's Day weekend, except in 2011 and 2014 when May 1 fell on a Sunday. In those cases, it was held the following weekend. Previously, the Kingsmill Championship women's golf tournament was played on Mother's Day weekend from 2004 to 2009.

Professional sports players often wear pink clothing accessories on Mother's Day weekend.

See also

  • Father's Day
  • Mōdraniht
  • National Grandparents Day

References

Citations

General and cited references

  • History of formation and celebration of Mother's Day